Aishwarya Pissay Bags Women’s FIM World Cup, Becomes 1st Indian To Win A World Title In Motorsport
chaitra krishnanMA (Journalism & Mass Communication) Experience: 5 yearsChaitra has a triple main bachelor’s degree in journalism, communicative English, and economics from St. Aloysius College, Mangalore, and a master’s degree in journalism and mass communication from St... more
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Gone are the days when girls would stick to their mopeds and cars. Today, you can spot biker girls in parts of many cities and towns even though the frequency isn’t as much as male bikers. Girls who ride bikes are considered to be hippie, cool, and whatnot. It’s quite a sexist notion that girls can’t use bikes for the day to day purposes or be passionate about biking. Breaking away the shackles of these stereotypes, Aishwarya Pissay from Bengaluru has proved that women can ride bikes and can also bring laurels to their country by winning international motorsports events. Yes, you heard it right! Thousands of men on the road with a bike and Aishwarya, a girl, is the first-ever Indian to win gold at an international motorsport event.
Aishwarya Pissay secured the first position in the women’s category at FIM Baja World Cup 2019 off-road championship which was held in Varpalota, Hungary. The championship had four rounds in which Aishwarya earned 65 points. Rita Viera from Portugal won the second position with 61 points. Aishwarya won the first round of the competition in Dubai after which she took part in the event held in Hungary. Do you want to know more about the girl biker who made us all proud? Read on.
After the podium ceremonies, Aishwarya said to the media, “It’s absolutely overwhelming. I am out of words. After what happened last year, my first international season, when I crashed in Spain Baja and suffered career-threatening injuries, to come out and win the championship, is a great feeling.” From her words, it’s pretty clear that determination and perseverance, despite the injuries and troubles that she faced, is what keeps her going. Born in a patriarchal and slightly misogynistic society that looks down at women who dare to cross their “boundaries”, things were obviously not easy for Aishwarya. But none of that mattered to her because she was totally confident about her goals and dreams.
“People also told me that it is not a thing that I should choose. But my motivation increased when I started participating in more rallies and races. With the support of sponsors, within a span of five years, I could win six national championships and two international championships,” Aishwarya said in an interview with a leading news channel. 23-year-old Aishwarya is one of the youngest Indian names to achieve an international title. However, according to her, this victory is a delayed one.
“I’m not really young in this field. But when we compare the situation in India, yes, I’m young. I think it’s absolutely a pride moment that I made a difference here and put India on the global motorsport. Just hope to see this change lead forward. I believe what I have done or what dignitaries like C S Santhosh has been doing is a hope to people. It definitely gives people hope that they can achieve outside the country and fly the tri-color flag,” she added.
Aishwarya recalls that her achievements are hard-earned. “I have had two major accidents. One in which I hurt my collar bone in 2017, then I had a bad fall and ruptured my pancreas in 2018. I underwent surgery and was in hospital for two months. There was not a single day in the hospital that I thought I would not be able to race again. That incident taught me the importance of never giving up,” she said. During the collar bone injury in 2017, a steel plate and seven screws were inserted into Aishwarya’s body. Her doctors asked her to stay away from racing for about three to four weeks. However, Aishwarya had a race in just five days, so she went ahead and won it! We’re not saying that you should go against your doctor when you need rest, but Aishwarya’s spirit and passion deserves a salute.
Aishwarya’s love for biking began about five years ago when she started going on rides during the weekends with her friends. Today, she is the first Indian woman to have five national road racing and rally championship titles under her name. “I met some women during my initial training days who were ready to take racing as hobby, but not as a profession. I am glad I didn’t go their way,” concluded Aishwarya.
Aishwarya hopes that her achievements pave a new path for the younger generation that dreams about competing in international-level motorsport competitions. Her ultimate aim is to participate in the Dakar Rally, which is an annual rally held by the Amaury Sport Organisation. In 2020, the rally will take place in the first week of January. Her journey and love for biking helped her excel in the sport. We hope Aishwarya’s story becomes the foundation stone for young bikers to chase their dreams.
Did you like Aishwarya’s journey to success? Have you ever thought of bike riding as a profession? Share your thoughts with us in the comments section below.
